BNP lying about Khaleda’s medical file: Quader

Obaidul Quader at a Bangladesh Chhatra League conference at Dhaka University

Minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader says the BNP is spreading lies with their claim that party chief Khaleda Zia’s medical file has been kept at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s office.

The ruling party leader made the remarks during a speech at a Bangladesh Chhatra League meeting at Dhaka University on Sunday, a day after the BNP made the accusations.

On Saturday BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir claimed that doctors had recommended that Khaleda Zia, who is currently serving a prison sentence over the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, be transferred to United Hospital for medical treatment and that the file was waiting for permission from the prime minister’s office.

“If Begum Zia is ill, the prison authorities will take the necessary steps,” said Quader. “The home ministry and the ministry of health are available. Why would the papers go to the prime minister’s office?”

“They [the BNP] engage in a politics of falsehood. They lie all the time. They make it seem as if the papers are with the prime minister and that one signature from her will fulfil all their goals. Will that cure Begum Zia?”

Quader also dismissed allegations the government was not providing for the proper care of the BNP chairperson and expressed his suspicions regarding the doctors the BNP had brought forward.

“It is natural for us to be suspicious when BNP-allied doctors submit medical certificates. Instead of giving us the truth, they will submit certificates that are politically influenced. Is that acceptable?”

“The authorities will take the necessary measures based on the truth. The government cannot be inhumane. And the government of Sheikh Hasina is not inhumane. We do not treat them the way they treat us.”

The Awami League general secretary said that the BNP’s demands to release Khaleda Zia were futile.

“Khaleda Zia is in prison because of orders from the court. But they are still trying to entangle it in politics – as if the government itself sentenced Khaleda Zia. We did not sentence her and we cannot free her either.”